Terry McLaurin has seen his stock rise in Washington exponentially over the past year in the NFL, as Redskins fans shower him with love and adoration following this record-breaking rookie season.
While he has quickly become a fan-favorite in Washington, he has also established himself as a favorite of his former coach in college — a future Hall-of-Famer — Urban Meyer.
Meyer’s love for McLaurin isn’t due to his accolades, but rather his hard work and dedication to the sport. When talking to NBC Sports Washington, Meyer told JP Finlay that when Terry got to Ohio State, he had a lot of work left to do before he could have an impact and see the field. What McLaurin did after hearing that is what many coaches dream of.
“‘You need to go home and work on this, this and this and we’ll check you out in a couple of weeks,'” Meyer told McLaurin, a conversation he recalled during his recent one-on-one with JP Finlay and the Redskins Talk podcast.
Per Meyer, McLaurin responded, working “five, six hours a day” to improve in the areas he needed to. Many wouldn’t have handled that conversation so well — it’s not exactly the best start to one’s experience at school — but McLaurin sure did.
And that’s one of the reasons why Meyer bestowed the following label on the now-Redskin.
“He’s one of my favorites of all time,” he said.
Any fan of the Redskins can see these qualities still ever-present in McLaurin, as his dynamic rookie season sets him up for a strong career in Washington. While Meyer may be familiar with some other players on the Redskins’ roster — both QB Dwayne Haskins and expected first-round pick DE Chase Young are from Ohio State — it’s McLaurin who the former coach envisions as the core member of a team.
“He’s got everything you need to build a team around.”
